Thursday, January 8, 2015

Organizing the House - Part 1

I'm definitely in nesting / panic mode.

We've lived in our house for 2-1/2 years now, and there's still a lot we have to finish. I'm slow at making decisions, so it takes something major - like a potential adoption! - to get me to make a move.

And even if adopting the twins doesn't work out, there will be a little one joining our family in the (probably) very near future. This stuff just needs to be done no matter what, but the fact that the adoption might be very, very soon has pushed us into rush mode!

So this is just part of what we're working on - and it's only the start of it too. I'll have to go into a little more detail with some of the rooms once they're completely done, but here's our progress so far:

Storage Room

It was a complete disaster before. I forgot to take a "before" pic, but just envision storage tubs stacked halfway up the walls - 2-3 deep - and then random stuff piled on top of that. A huge chaotic mess.

Here it is now:

Furnace room / storage room with a closet in the back

We went and bought some strong metal shelves, bolted them to the wall, and now, I can actually find things we have stored!

It's definitely not completely finished, but it looks so much better!

Storage Room Closet

We have a nice little closet in our storage room (yes, a storage room within a storage room - I love this house!). That got cleared out too.

I like to stock up (I grew up in a big family ;) so now I have space for all of that food. Hopefully, I will only have to grocery shop for milk, bread, and fresh produce this winter...

Just needs to be a little more organized, but it's working out great in the meantime. :)

Playroom

The room that was always in the plan to be the playroom was not a priority when we moved here because at the time, our daughter was not even a year old. So it became the dump room. You know the room/closet I'm talking about. You have one in your house too - don't deny it. ;)

Finally, we cleared it out and organized it. And I'm so bad at "before" pictures - I forgot with this room too. But I'm sure you can picture the catch-all that it was.

Here it is! It's one of my favorite rooms in the house now.

A playroom with all this storage? Yes, please! And...can you tell we like to read?!

Jim really wanted to keep all the wood paneling and trim this color. I really wanted it white, but the whole rest of the house has already been painted white...so wood it is ;) Although he did say that we could paint the doors white...I think I'll take him up on that!

I'd like to add some more shelves for better organization

I just need to get some chairs for the art table and hang up the kids' art gallery wall here

All that I have left to do is mostly finishing touches (get curtains, chairs, etc.), hang up the gallery wall, and finish up organizing the closet. I'm almost there!

Our Little Girl's Bedroom

I love all the bright & fun colors! This is definitely my favorite color combination.

All of the furniture has been put in place for awhile. It just needed wall art. Now, that's up. And all that's left is getting curtains, painting the mirrors above the beds white, and some finishing touches (like a little decorating on the dresser and shelf, writing a cute saying on the chalkboard, etc.).

It's looking good!

Our Little Boy's Bedroom

Our little man just got moved out of the nursery and into his big boy room. But he's still in a crib and will be til he figures out how to escape. ;)

This room was the old office, so mostly all we've done is clear out the computer, desk, and office supplies, and move in his crib. His room still needs a lot of work as you can see:

I'd like to add that after showing you all of this is we have not spent very much money organizing or decorating our house. (Or maybe that's what you were thinking anyway! ;) Almost everything pictured (even the kids' toys) were items we already owned, were given to us, or were bought at a major discount (like at a garage sale or on clearance). You don't have to spend a lot to organize and turn your house into a home - you just need to be creative!

Isn't it the best feeling in the world to get stuff in order and to have your house feel finished?

We still have a little to finish in each of these rooms and even have several more rooms to work on, but I still feel great! (I'll post the other rooms in Part 2 soon!) Are you working on any projects with organization right now?

Now, we just need to keep up the work...and keep it in order too. I'll post more once we make more progress!

A little blog housekeeping now....;)

I want to say a big THANK YOU! to everyone who linked up with us for our first Tuesday Talk link up this week! There's still time to link up...or you can come back and share a recent post next Tuesday. :) We'd love to have you!

And you ladies blew us away with your amazing posts. So much so that we are all currently working on a Pinterest board where we will be featuring our favorites every week. Come back next Tuesday and make sure you follow along with our Tuesday Talk Features board to see some awesome posts you'll definitely want to pin too!

This is the dream house of storage that's for sure! Yeah, it is so nice to have the ability to keep some stuff out of their reach. I love this room too. Now, we just have to keep it this organized - that's the hard part! -Jess

I love your playroom...it is so nice to have built-in shelving and just a space in general to store all the toys. My playroom is a playroom/office/gym...lol..definitely multi-purpose so I've had to be strategic with organization in there too. Have you ever thought of painting all that brown wood white??? If that's your style, it would totally brighten it up in there! But overall, I love what you've done with it!-MorganCalifornia To CarolinaThe Gym Bunny

I so wish we could paint it white! That's what I would like. My husband really wanted to keep it wood and the entire rest of the house is white trim and moldings, so I guess he can have 1 room. ;) He did say I could paint the trim around the windown, the door, and the closet doors white, so I'll definitely be doing that. Yeah, we painted the top half a light frosty blue to try to lighten it up since the wood was staying. Marital compromise :)

I know what you mean about the multi function rooms. We have an office/dining/music room! Yeah, it sure keeps things interesting! Thanks for dropping by and have a wonderful day! -Jess

Looks like you've been doing a great job getting organized!! Love all the shelving you've put up to make finding things easier! When my husband and I re-do our basement, we'll have to look into stuff like that to organize everything that we're storing in the basement right now.

I am seriously SO envious of all that storage space you have!! Storage/closets/space is on the top of our list whenever we move from our current place :) Everything is looking great! The last couple months of 2014 we purged/donated a TON of stuff which felt great but I'm ready to do more now!

That was at the top of our list when we were looking last time too. And then we found the dream house of storage! I hope you can find that too whenever you start looking. Purging is a great idea. Right now, I've just been arranging what we have and not getting rid of much. I really should do that at the same time I'm organizing. You're right that it feels so great when you do! -Jess

Growing up in a family of 8 that's what we had to do...and now, I can't NOT do it! haha I feel panicky when I get down to 4-6 of something! I'm so glad I have the space for it now. Have a great weekend! -Jess

It is the best feeling to have things organized and your house looks great. Great job getting ready for whatever comes in 2015. And congrats on growing your family- yay adoption!Found you through the Thoughts for Thursday link up,Amber at OurCharmedLife.net

Your storage is enviable!! I LOVE the wall of shelves in your playroom and the way you've styled them is so darling and inviting!! No wonder it's such a popular hang out space. Way to go on all of your nesting and reorganizing. It's on my project list for this year, too.

Thank you! We've been working hard. I can't wait til it's completely done! And you're not going to like this after I just read your h54f post...but the bedspreads and sheets are from Target. ;) They were part of the "back to college" bed linens last year, and I got a seriously great deal on them. I just love that Target! Have a great weekend! -Jess

Your house looks great! Love the storage! Organizing makes me so happy! I linked up Tuesday with my "hoarders closets" and I already accomplished one and it just feels so good and motivating to keep going!! Have a great weekend!

This is a good month to get them - they're always on sale in January because being more organized is a big resolution for a lot of people. You'll have to check it out! Having everything organized in clear bins is soooo nice. Thanks for stopping by and have a beautiful weekend! -Jess

Great! There were so many good deals at the holidays that I couldn't resist. Plus, last winter we were pretty much snowed in for a few months...and I don't want to have to drive in that again! Thanks for stopping by and have a beautiful weekend! -Jess

We've been working on all of this for the past month. It's been so cold here lately too that it's been great just staying inside and getting all this stuff done! Good luck with getting yours done! -Jess

It is such an awesome feeling! Now, we're working hard at some other rooms too. I can't wait to have the WHOLE house done. Then, after all that work, it will just keep itself that way, right? haha Have a great weekend! -Jess

I need to get SO MUCH BETTER at organizing!! we have like zero room right now and I love the shelving that you have in your storage room! We could totally try doing something like that in our basement!

The kids look like they're having a blast in that playroom! I love your storage room, too. I need to get those clear tub things you have, because I'm pretty sure most of our basement looks like the what could have been your 'before' pictures

St. Therese is the patron saint for our family :) This picture is extra special because my grandpa gave it to us, and he passed away recently. He had such a devotion to her, and he passed his love of her on to us :) Thanks for stopping by! -Jess

Thank you! Good luck with your basement - it sure is a ton of work but so worth it in the end. :) Thanks for hosting the link up! That's the first time I've been to your blog - I love it! I'm looking forward to following along now :) -Jess

Yes, this is the perfect time to organize and clean...we are totally stuck inside too. Single digits and negative windchills here. (But we're already halfway through January so it's almost spring, right?!) Thanks for hosting! -Jess

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